Do you have that one friend?

You know the one I’m talking about. The one that always complains and whines about everything, from airport delays to food service to his job. You’ve not heard him say anything good in a long time. Anything you bring up in a conversation is met with a barrier of scepticism. I’ve got a few friends like that, and I once asked one of them about their attitude. His response was that he’s been through a hard life and he’s known hardship that I couldn’t even imagine, and so the scepticism and cynicism are necessary walls of self-defence.

Absolute and utter bullshit.

Don’t believe what these people are saying for one second. No matter how hard one person’s life is, there are always a hundred people somewhere in the world who have it harder than they do. Heck, considering the economic state of the world, the famine crisis in Somalia, and the natural disasters sweeping through so many parts of the earth, you could bump that number up to a million and still be accurate.

And secondly, strength isn’t about showing your scars to everyone and attempting to impress people with how much you’ve been through. That’s showmanship. Strength is holding your head high with a smile on your face after you’ve been through hell, knowing that you survived it and you came out a better person. It’s knowing that you’ve dealt with something so severe, and now you can deal with 99% of what life throws at you without batting an eyelid.

When people claim that hardship made them bitter, remember this: hardship made them stronger. THEY made themselves bitter.

You don’t need to surround yourself with showmanship. It does nothing for you, and in fact witnessing the constant never-ending drama is exhausting. Cut them out of your life, and surround yourself with people who are positive. Positive energy is beautiful in the sense that it multiplies when you share it. I made the change a few years back and I was amazed at how much of a difference it made in my life. Now whenever I see negativity around me, I move to cut it off.

So if you’re one of my friends and you’re wondering why I suddenly unfriended you on Facebook, now you know.